Fireflies
by KeganHorse
Summary: After the war, Sasuke joins Suigetsu and Jugo on a journey to find the remaining Seven Swords of Mist. However, they aren't the only ones seeking these weapons out. While two different groups try to lure Sasuke into their midst, only one Kunoichi can succeed. SasuSaku
1. Prologue

Hello, all! I went through and cleaned this chapter up a bit, since it's been a while since I started writing this story and I have decided to come back to it. Please enjoy!

(I don't own Naruto!)

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><p>He watched her as she stood side by side with the Hokage on their summon, the giant slug Katsuyu. It seems that over the time he had been gone, she had grown into the spitting image of her shishou, simply swapping the long blond pony tail for short pink locks and lacking only the enormous chest of the older woman. She had even managed to gain the Byakugou no In upon her forehead, which he noted she had grown into since their days as genin.<p>

Sakura Haruno had become strong and resourceful, something he had never imagined possible for her.

Madara had been taken care of and Obito finally put to rest. The end of the Fourth Shinobi World War was upon them and as the former weak link of Team Seven watched the allied forces initiate their celebrations – Naruto at the lead – he found that he was unable to do anything but watch her, his former team mate. He watches as she turned her warm smile not on him, but on his replacement, who had taken up watching the loud-mouthed savior alongside her.

He felt their presence behind him as he was joined by Orochimaru and Team Hebi, Karin standing too close at his side, though he hardly found the will to care at the moment. Now that all the fighting was done, he was finally free to look at everything objectively. To see the shinobi world as his former team mates might see it, a task that he found rather difficult.

Sasuke broke his gaze from the pink haired medic and found his blond haired rival at the center of the crowding members of the Alliance. Sensing the eyes of the Uchiha, Naruto turned and met his gaze. Slightly unnerved by this show of awareness, and the possibility that Naruto was right and something existed between them that could never be broken, Sasuke turned and stalked away from the battlefield.

Though he didn't turn to watch, he knew that Naruto would follow.

What he didn't expect was that the other original member of Team Seven would notice and do the same.

Stopping just out of view of the Allied Shinobi Forces, Sasuke gazed out upon the empty land before him. Facing away from the destruction the battles had left behind, it was easy to imagine that nothing at all had happened. No war to save the shinobi world, no battle to end his ancestor's deluded plots. Just untainted, beautiful land that stretched out past the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to set.

He didn't have long to wait until he could feel Naruto's presence behind him, and they stood there side by side as they watched the sun dip below the edge of the world and a million tiny specks of light took its place in the sky.

"So," the blonde said slowly, a soft smile plastered on his face at the simple fact that he could now stand next to the friend he had been relentlessly chasing for nearly four years now. "Were you serious about becoming Hokage?"

"Perhaps," Sasuke replied slowly, smirking at the question though his eyes never veered from the horizon. "At the very least, it wouldn't do to have a candidate in the running that I could easily wipe the floor with."

Quick to catch on to the invitation to do battle, Naruto turned his mischievous gaze toward the dark haired ninja to his left and bared his teeth in a cocky grin.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about then," and with that response, the two former team mates flash stepped out of view.

As the battle continued, both boys were so wrapped up in their fun that neither noticed the pink haired kunoichi watching them from a distance, a warm smile gracing her features as she realized she no longer needed to pretend that this was the past and that nothing bad had ever happened. It was alright now, that Sasuke had returned and Naruto could finally bring back to life the bond they shared with one another. The one that had never truly broken, no matter how hard Sasuke tried.

She couldn't stop the tears that silently fell however, when she realized that even though things might be alright for them, they would never be for her. Sasuke had attempted to kill her, more than once. He had threatened her friends and her village and while she could never take away the first real friend that her beloved team mate had ever made, she knew that she could no longer welcome back the Uchiha the way Naruto could.

Naruto was full of love and forgiveness and hope. As far as she was concerned, his acceptance was more than Sasuke deserved. Therefore, even though she could stomach the return of the stoic young man back into the village should that be what was to come, she would not offer him the same courtesies that she knew Naruto would give him without reservations.

She continued to watch as the stars multiplied in numbers and the energy reserves of the two fighting men visibly drained. It wasn't long until others had joined her, watching silently as the two rivals made up in their own special, slightly twisted way.

Hinata was the first to join her, the shy girl sitting next to Sakura without a word. As a medic, it was part of Sakura's duty to be understanding, and thus when she saw the matching tears leaking from pure white eyes and a small, sad smile, she grabbed the delicate hand that belonged to the Hyuuga heiress and squeezed softly, offering her support for the loss of the quiet girl's cousin.

On her other side was where Kakashi sat, his ever present book stowed away as he watched two of his former students fight for the first time in years without the intent to kill one another. Sakura didn't protest when her former sensei's hand rested on her shoulder and a nearly silent whispered apology slipped from his masked lips. She merely tilted her head to rest on his shoulder for a moment, offering her forgiveness and support to the teacher she knew regretted his lack of attention during her time under his tutelage.

Finally, Sai joined them as well, standing just behind Sakura and Kakashi, watching the fight with a mixture of confusion and concern, though he had learned enough by now not to ask any questions. His mind simply couldn't understand the concept of fighting one's rival in such a way that it wasn't quite sparring, but wasn't deadly either.

And that was how he found her at the end of the duel, while he lay on his back opposite Naruto, both too exhausted to continue. Still clutching Hinata's hand with Kakashi's almost painful grip on her shoulder, crying into a sad smile that he knew was for him. And behind her was the rest of the Allies, and off to the side stood Suigetsu and Jugo, Orochimaru waving once before he turned to leave with Karin at his heels.

Sasuke closed his eyes and waited. He heard Naruto mumble something too low for him to make out as he discovered that he could no longer lift his eye lids. After a short time he felt a warmth spread through his chest and a calming sensation as the pain began to fade, a soft green glow filtering through the thin layer of skin covering his eyes.

"Thank you," Sasuke whispered hoarsely before he lost consciousness. "Thank you, Sakura."

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><p>Read and Review? I wanna be fanfic famous as the respectable age of 23, guys!<p> 


	2. Fireflies

Another clean up, mostly the same. New chapter coming soon!

:D

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><p>Fireflies. A pin-prick of light against the darkness, flitting in and out of sight but never gone. Never extinguished. That is what they were to him, and as he sat high up in the oak tree, he imagined the flickering patterns created by the glowing insects were forming their shapes.<p>

A spiky haired grin, clothed in a glowing orange track suit. A smaller form, with shoulder-length hair and leaves for eyes. A half-faced grin with a single eye as dark as his own. They shone on in spite of his blackness, and were even brighter because of it.

The sun was only just setting and the once dismally gray sky was now a myriad of oranges and pinks as the fading rays of light dipped below the layer of thick clouds. Sighing, Sasuke leaned forward away from the tree trunk and made to jump down to forest floor, careful not to snag his long winter cloak on any of the branches.

Feet firmly on the ground, he glanced once more at the small farming town he had just come from, so unlike the sprawling metropolis that was Konoha. For so long he had told himself and anyone who bothered to ask that he had broken his bonds with his former team mates. And yet two years after the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War and his subsequent banishment from his childhood home, his mind still wanders every now and then to those he left behind.

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought his mind back to the present. Before him stood his Team Taka, all except for Karin who, to his relief, had disappeared along with Orochimaru as soon as the fighting had ended. Suigetsu had been the one to draw his attention, rocking back and forth on his toes impatiently across the clearing alongside Jugo. They were both packed and ready to set out.

After the end of the war and his resulting exoneration from missing-nin status and reclassification to village-less wanderer at the hands of Tsunade, Sasuke had been at a loss for what to do with himself. His clan had been avenged, Konoha had been saved according to his brother's wishes and the council had even been forced to step down once their past activities had been brought to light, having been replaced by Nara Shikamaru and Hatake Kakashi.

All of this being done, Suigetsu and Jugo found Sasuke on the outskirts of the Fire Country a week after the war ended, lazily watching the clouds drift by in a manner he never realized he had picked up from a certain newly-appointed council member. The Uchiha had been putting off his thoughts of the future, not entirely sure how to go about it considering he had never once considered such a thing since the death of his clan. And that was when Suigetsu had found a way to give him a new purpose. Not the crazy revenge filled kind that he was used to, but something to drive him nonetheless.

"You know," Suigetsu had drawled, grinning widely and mischievously displaying his razor-like grin, "if you would rather laze around and shrivel up into nothingness out here in the middle of nowhere, that's cool. But if you would like to join Jugo and myself in attaining the Seven Swords of Mist, then we would be more than happy for you to tag along."

Sasuke had stared up at the white haired menace for a moment before he turned his vacant expression to Jugo. The larger man smiled faintly down at where he lay in the grass, not saying anything. Sasuke had the impression that Jugo would follow him if he decided against Suigetsu's offer, but also had the inkling that the gentle giant wished for him to accept. The three of them had spent a lot of time together and it took a while for Jugo to be at ease around people. Despite Suigetsu's brash attitude, Sasuke knew that Jugo held them both in high regards.

And thus with his acquiescence to the once Mist-nin's suggestion, two years later had afforded them two of the legendary swords. Kabutowari, in reality a giant axe with an equally large hammer connected by a chain, was currently carried by Jugo, though he hardly used it. Suigetsu himself had laid claim to Nuibari, a thin sword much lighter than his previous sword had been.

Knowing that Samehada was still with Killer B, Hirameikarei with Chojurou in Mist and Kubikiribocho with Kakashi, that left only two, Shibuki and Kiba, out there to be found. Having found a lead to the latter sword, Sasuke was amazed that Suigetsu hadn't physically dragged him from his perch in the tree sooner.

"Sasuke-kun," Suigestsu mock-whined, ceasing his rocking and turning towards the path that would take them towards the ferry heading to Benisu Island. Sasuke cringed at the familiar nickname, one that Suigetsu had taken up since Karin had left, saying that it would keep the Uchiha from becoming 'lonely.' "We're gonna miss the boat."

Sasuke followed, seething silently in annoyance, as his sharp-toothed companion started off down the steep hill. Given that this was Suigetsu's mission, Sasuke had willingly followed his lead these past two years, having no real ambition to do otherwise.

Jugo, who had fallen into step next to him as they walked, glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. He had been doing this a lot lately, and though the young Avenger had not thought much of it, he knew that Jugo was concerned about him. Sasuke dismissed the thought, unsure of what exactly was bothering his team mate.

It was a short walk and the trio arrived at the docks within half an hour, just in time to board the small vessel that would help them along their way to finding the third sword. Throughout their time together, it had become clear that while they were compatible company in many regards, sea travel was not one of them. As Suigetsu spent the hour and a half long journey staring out at the dark sea and reveling in the slight rocking motion of the boat, Jugo leaned his head against the railings and tried to fight off every nauseating wave.

"Sasuke-kun," Suigetsu called from across the otherwise passenger free deck. Sasuke made a point to ignore the infuriating suffix. Suigetsu himself resembled an overexcited toddler, grinning broadly and practically bouncing up and down on the large crate he had claimed as his seat, ignoring the rows of wooden benches. "Do you really think Kiba is on Benisu?"

Perhaps it was brought on by his recent reminiscing of his one-time home, but Suigetsu's mention of the sword's name brought to mind an image of a hot-headed brunette sporting a red inverted triangle on either cheek and his oversized canine companion. Shaking his head ever so slightly to disperse the thought, Sasuke grunted a nondescript reply.

Undeterred by the lacking response, Suigetsu continued on with his train of thought. "I bet it is. Those Ninja on Benisu are always looking for a way to further their own standing. They may have some strong shinobi, but their position in the middle of freaking nowhere and their lack of anything useful on that tiny little island they claimed has left them useless."

"I heard it is more of a dictatorship now," the quiet and unsteady comment brought both Suigetsu and Sasuke's attention to where Jugo was still slouched, kneeling on a bench with his face resting against the cool metal bars.

"Hn," was the reply, signaling for Jugo to continue his explanation.

"There is a group of missing-nin who have taken over Benisu, forcing the native shinobi to rally against The Country of Sea," Jugo paused as he moaned and involuntarily added a small amount of volume to the water below, causing Suigetsu to pull a face in disgust. He spit and continued. "Rumors have spread that they have already acted against one of Sea's smaller islands."

"Is the sword in their possession?" Sasuke asked. Lately, Jugo had been the one to gather all of their information. Suigetsu was too vile to sick on unsuspecting villagers, and Sasuke himself wouldn't know how to go about coaxing it out of them without the need for threats. If he didn't make use of the instant terror that his sheer size inspired among civilians and ninja alike, then Jugo could easily charm them with his kind and gentle nature into spilling all the latest gossip.

Jugo sunk down onto the bench, slumping his back against the metal railing and closing his eyes. "Yeah, that is what everyone said. Their leader, Jinichiro, has it."

"Alright," Suigetsu grinned madly, staring at the ever growing shore of Benisu as they approached. "This should be an easy one."

As they watched, the golden beachfront glittered in the faint moonlight, the clouds having mostly dispersed by now. When the dock came into view, Sasuke noted that it was full of people looking to be civilians, all laden down with over-stuffed bags and heavy winter clothing, waiting for the approaching vessel.

Suigetsu narrowed his violet eyes at the sight. "Oi, ferry-man," he called to the only other person on board, who was sure to have heard his loud call but made no such indication. "What is goin' on here?"

Grunting, the boatman responded without turning his head, his words almost lost against the wind. "The civilians are leaving while the village is rebuilt."

"Rebuilt?" the shark-toothed man repeated incredulously. "Why does it need to be rebuilt?"

"Foreign ninja showed up a few days ago," at this, the boatman turned his head slightly, a deep-set glower upon his face. "They destroyed the village while fighting the local leaders."

"What!" Suigetsu was off the crate in an instant, looking as though he were not about to wait for compliance before beating some answers out of the man.

"Suigetsu," it was an unspoken order to stand down, one which Sasuke did not often employ since they had started off on this mission. Even so, the Mist-nin was not about to test his limits with the Uchiha. Raising from his own cross-legged seat upon the deck, Sasuke addressed the boatman. "What were they after?"

Having arrived at the dock, the boatman opened the gates, allowing for the people gathered there to filter on board, though not before the mariner had noticed the dangerous glint in the dark eyes of his patron.

Turning around fully to address the young shinobi over the heads of his new clients, the boatman answered. "Not sure exactly why they came, they just did. Not that anyone is complaining about the disappearance of Jinichiro and his thugs, but it would have been nice if they had managed it without destroying the whole damn place."

Taking notice of the conversation, a middle age man with wide shoulders and farming hands couldn't help but throw in his own comments. "Damn ninja, always causing a mess no matter what they do. Can't even handle helping a small village without punching giant fuckin' craters in the middle of town."

The gruff man had been ready to continue, but in an instant Sasuke was standing right before him, eyes bleeding red against his pale, stoic face. When he attempted to take a step back, he bumped right into the chest of Jugo, face grim with the remembrance of the impossibly strong kunoichi from the war. Startled, he made a last ditch effort to escape to the left and further onto the deck, but the demented smirk of Suigetsu cut off his route.

"Who were these shinobi?" The question was quiet, measured and underlined with a terrifying note of danger.

Blanching, the man tried to glance at his peers for help, but none stepped forward. Trembling, he looked back to the dark haired ninja before him. "A trio, a group from Konoha," he tripped over his words. "This creepy pale guy, one in this old fashioned lookin' green jumpsuit and The Konoha Earthquake."

"The what?" Sasuke asked curtly, inching forward with his hand resting lazily on the hilt of his sword.

"The Konoha Earthquake!" The man reiterated, finding himself preferring to be pressed against the immobile chest of the impossibly large man behind him rather than allowing for Sasuke to get any closer. "The girl with the quick temper and pink hair! Disciple to the sannin Tsunade."

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><p>And with that, the boatman found himself relieved of three passengers.<p>

"Where're we going?" Suigetsu asked the silent man running three steps ahead of him, trying not to pant too heavily as they sprinted across the water, the leisurely pace of the ferry no longer something they could afford. The moment that the Konoha kunoichi came into the picture, it was no longer Suigetsu's mission. Sasuke was once more the man in charge.

In true Sasuke fashion, he neglected to answer, and his shark-faced companion knew better than to ask again. It didn't take long until they were once again on the small island called Jiro they had left only hours before that lay between Benisu and the Land of Tea. They didn't stop until they reached the rural village that had begun Sasuke's reminiscence, and though it was late the group made a beeline to the one place they were sure people would still be – the local pub.

Not one to indulge very often, Sasuke had ignored his loud team mate's suggestion that they stop for a pint earlier, but now striding in to the dimly lit establishment he immediately sat himself at a stool and waved over the bartender.

"What can I get for you?" The young man asked through a friendly grin, seemingly at ease with the three strangers that were obviously shinobi. Sasuke scowled. There could only be one reason for a young agrarian civilian to feel so at ease around foreign killers.

"Other ninja have been here recently." It was not a spoken as a question, more of a demand for answers.

Having expected a drink order, the barkeep was momentarily stymied, though he got over it quickly with another bright flash of teeth. "Oh yes," he replied readily. "A group of three stopped in a few hours ago. Friends of yours?"

"Did they say where they were going?"

The grin began to falter, but the young man was versed in dealing with several different kinds of bar patrons, rude included.

"They didn't," he busied himself with pouring a glass of water for the silver haired man who looked like he was about to pass out from all his heavy panting. Suigetsu gabbed it immediately and chugged it down, slamming it down with a look that told the young man to keep 'em coming. "But they were wearing Konoha headbands and when they left they headed north."

Sasuke grunted in reply and stood to leave, Suigetsu hurrying to take the cup of proffered water and downing it before he followed.

"Thank you," Jugo tilted his head slightly before he, too, headed for the door.

Once outside, the three walked in silence to the north exit of the town, the one that would lead them towards Tea Country and, beyond that, Konoha. Sasuke came to a stop there, on the small hill that overlooked the distant sea that separated him from his past.

"How badly do you want that sword?" Sasuke asked, not at all expecting and answer and Suigetsu was well aware of this fact.

"We could try going for the other one," Jugo offered quietly, giving Sasuke that same intense gaze that he had been sporting so often lately. It made him uncomfortable, the way the older man was staring at him, as though he knew everything inside Sasuke's head and more.

In all honesty, not even Sasuke was fully understanding of his own thoughts. Something inside him was beginning to stir, something that hadn't been there since he was a child and wanted so badly to earn the praise of his father. Something that had been missing since his days as a genin when he had to protect his team mates. Something that had burned red hot during his years of seeking vengeance for his clan but had been immediately extinguished when he had learned the miserable truth.

Something that was rekindled at the thought of seeing Sakura.

"They were here only a few hours ago," Sasuke said slowly, careful to keep the red glint of excitement from spreading in his eyes. "By now, they will be setting camp somewhere in Tea Country. Let's go."

Suigetsu grinned madly as they started their descent. Sasuke tried not to dwell too long on the momentary pause of Jugo and his quiet, analytical looks before the large man followed after them.

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><p>Review?<p> 


	3. Kiba

Yay, finally got this done! It has been a while, but I was really liking the plot of this story. Just had to get some motivation to actually do something other than playing games.

Anywho, enjoy! I don't own Naruto, I swear.

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><p>Skimming across the water was something Sasuke had never gotten quite used to. The distinction between land and water was still too vivid in his mind, and the first step onto the shimmering liquid always made him nervous, though he would never admit it.<p>

He had once thought that walking on water would be like walking on glass, clear and smooth and beautiful. However, as he glanced down into the sea all he saw was black. He wasn't running across a calm, serene surface but more a vast and empty void that loomed deep and hungry beneath him.

Sasuke did not like running across water.

Thankfully, the distance between shores was short and Sasuke found himself on solid ground in no time, at the very tip of the Country of Tea. The only issue left now was to find Sakura and her team. For the first time since she had gone, Sasuke wished halfheartedly that Karin was still with them, as her abilities would have made finding the Konoha-nin much simpler.

Behind him, Sasuke heard the slurp of Suigetsu sucking on his water bottle and wondered how the container was perpetually being emptied. He was sure that he had never actually seen the hydro maniac fill the bottle.

"Where to now, boss?" Suigetsu lowered his bottle and clipped it to his belt, eyes shining in excitement that had begun to burn even brighter since this turn in events. Perhaps the pointy-toothed young man had embraced the thought of a more challenging fight than some second class goons. Or perhaps he had caught on to Sasuke's mounting emotions and found the situation amusing.

Sasuke scowled.

"We spent two hours crossing the water," Jugo spoke softly. "Given how late it is now, one could estimate that they traveled another two hours after entering Tea and then set camp."

Suigetsu sighed. "Two hours? Where would that put them on your map, big guy?

"Half way to Degarashi Port, if returning to Konoha is their objective."

"Let's go." The break had lasted long enough to pin-point a location and the impatient Uchiha was ready to move out. Leaping into the nearest branch, Sasuke took to tree jumping as to avoid anyone that might still be out at this time of night. Tea was a rather crowded place and it was full of tourists nearly year round.

After a while, Suigetsu must have decided that it was alright to ask a question that had been nagging at him. "When we catch up to these kids," he started slowly, sure that the Uchiha's superior senses could pick up his words even though he was four trees behind the stoic man. "How are we gonna handle them? I mean, if they put up a fight and all."

Sasuke nearly faltered, having not given any thought to that matter. Cursing to himself, he realized that he had been too caught up in the thought of seeing her, glimpsing a piece of the home he had lost forever due to his own incompetence. He hadn't even considered that meeting up with her would more than likely lead to a struggle.

"Sasuke?" Jugo asked from beside him.

Schooling his features into something unreadable, Sasuke answered. "Suigetsu, you will handle the pale freak with the paint brushes. He is quick and athletic, but relies too much on his paintings. Soak his scrolls and cause his ink to run. He will be useless." He glanced at Jugo out of the corner of his eye, taking a moment to remember what Rock Lee was good at besides imitating his garish sensei. "Jugo, I want you to take care of the guy in the green jumpsuit. If I remember right, he is extremely skilled at taijutsu but nothing else. Your strength should be more than enough to outmatch him."

Jugo gave him a single nod of his head, but his features were a bit distressed. "You don't want us to hurt them, do you?"

"No," Sasuke answered immediately, though he didn't quite understand why there was no other course that crossed his mind. "Render them unconscious if needed, but do not kill or maim."

Suigetsu made a soft harrumph behind them, the same as he always did when Sasuke ordered him to refrain from killing. Sasuke wondered if the white-haired man still had the urge to chop his enemies to bits or if he continued in such a manner simply because that was what people expected from him. Since the war, Sasuke had never once noticed any discontent during battles stemming from the lack of missing limbs.

It was well past midnight now and though the long day of travel was beginning to wear on Sasuke, he refused to stop. Tea was a large place and even though they knew the general whereabouts of Sakura and her team, it would be difficult to pinpoint them exactly.

The wind picked up in the night, carrying the scent of fried foods and the sea from what was no doubt a nearby festival. Dismissing the slight grumbling of his stomach at the smell, Sasuke was prepared to continue down his path until the wind shifted and a new scent swept beneath his nose.

**Cherry blossoms.**

Sasuke came to an immediate stop, noting which way the wind was blowing from. He barely heard the questioning words from his companions, ignoring them and instead switching their direction slightly westward and against the wind.

He knew that it was a long shot, that following the trail of cherry trees was a completely unreliable thing to do. But the scent was unrelenting to his conscious and he was unable to turn away.

To his surprise, he felt a chakra that he could only term nostalgic. Could only find beautiful in its soft, velvet touch that swept over him like the silky caress of flower petals.

Stooping on a low branch, he activated his sharingan and could see three chakra signatures about fifty yards ahead, the caressing presence he felt shining a beautiful leaf green color. The other two, he noted, were a deep violet and a heavy green the color of moss. Something inside him rebelled at the thought that Lee had the same color chakra as Sakura, even if it was a much darker and duller shade. He couldn't help but compare her vibrant chakra to his own, such a deep blue in color that the only way he could differentiate it from black was due to his sharingan.

He could tell that Lee and Sai were asleep, their chakra flow slow and even to match their breathing. Sakura, on the other hand, was awake and sitting up next to a small fire.

Without giving much thought to his actions, Sasuke motioned for his team mates to hold their ground and suppressed his own chakra, moving towards the fire where his ex-teammate was sitting.

He made it to the clearing, where he saw Lee and Sai sleeping beneath the branches of a large Cherry tree, its long thin branches coated in ice that almost made it appear to be sprouting tiny white flowers. Sakura sat in front of the small fire, directly across from where he now stood.

"Sasuke."

He said nothing in response to the soft utterance of his name, vaguely aware of the lost suffix. He had expected something more dramatic. Instead, she simply smiled softly, motioning for him to join her by the fire. He didn't move.

Sakura sighed lightly and slowly clambered to her feet. She appeared tired, the ends of a bandage peeking above the collar of her white cloak. As she stood, Sasuke glanced two protruding hilts against her hips.

"We have been waiting for you, Sasuke," Sakura said quietly so as not to wake her companions.

"Why."

Taking a few steps towards him, Sasuke focused on the small foot prints she left in the snow, resisting the urge to maintain the distance between them. When she was finally standing before him, he managed to force himself to look at her face. Purple bruises beneath her unusually dull green eyes proved just how tired she really was. She looked at him in a calculated way, not with the adoration she had showed him in the past. Sasuke quickly averted his gaze.

"It was Naruto's idea," she finally said, a faint smile upon her lips. "He would have come himself, but he is busy with his training. He will be Hokage soon."

Sasuke nodded once, not really surprised by the news. It was what the blonde idiot had been working for his entire life, after all.

The sound of metal scraping against wood immediately set Sasuke on edge and before Sakura could fully unsheathe one of the swords at her hips, Sasuke had the tip of his kusanagi at her throat.

"What are you doing, Sakura?" Sasuke had acted on instinct, and as he spoke he removed the metal edge from its perch against her skin, relieved to see that he hadn't actually cut her. He left it hovering an inch or so away from her throat to deter her from doing anything more.

"These blades I have are Kiba, one of the legendary swords of Mist," Sakura said slowly, fully unsheathing the blade. "I thought that your friend would want to see it."

Before he could say anymore, Suigetsu had bounded into the clearing, grabbing the sword from Sakura's outstretched hand. "Damn right I do!"

"Sakura?" behind her, Sai was sitting atop his sleeping bag, legs crossed and his short, blunt sword resting on his lap. Lee, on the other hand, was still fast asleep.

Sasuke lowered his kusanagi, leaving it hanging at his side while he watched Suigetsu examine the weapon.

"It's alright Sai," she said sweetly, turning to give him a smile. When she looked back to Sasuke and his team mates, Jugo having followed after Suigetsu, the smile was gone. "Your search for the swords has become common knowledge, Sasuke. This was the only way we could think of to find you."

"Why you lookin' for him, Pinky?" Suigetsu asked, finally taking his eyes off the sword in his hands and eying her meaningfully. Huffing a small laugh, she turned her attention to the white-haired man who was hovering just a little too close to her, in Sasuke's opinion.

"My name," She said slowly and deliberately, as though she were talking to a child, "is Sakura." She turned back to Sasuke, effectively dismissing his overzealous teammate. "And we need you to come back to Konoha."

Sasuke kept his face neutral, careful not to show any emotion. Namely surprise. Disbelief. Hope.

He heard Jugo shift behind him and cursed the large man's ability to read him so well. When had he gained such a power?

"Why?" The orange-haired ninja asked, and Sasuke watched as Sakura turned her attention to him, a hint of curiosity entering her gaze. Sasuke himself was a little intrigued, but not only towards Sakura's offer. It wasn't often that Jugo spoke up when he was not being addressed directly.

Sai, who had come to stand behind his teammate, trained his blank stare on the group. "Would you just tell them already, Ugly? We need to get back to Konoha soon."

"Eh?" Suigetsu snorted indignantly, still clutching one half of Kiba and standing virtually shoulder to shoulder with its current wielder. "Are we holding you up, kid? From what I can tell, you guys were sleeping before we got here."

His infamous fake smile split his face as Sai acknowledged Suigetsu. "We were waiting for Sasuke-kun."

A flash of anger coursed through his body at Sai's words and Sasuke had to restrain himself from raising his sword to the replacement. It became harder when he was certain the fake smile widened after he had finished speaking, as though he was aware of Sasuke's reaction.

"Chojuro is dead and Hiramekarei is gone," Sakura said quickly, her eyes hard and unfocused. "Killer B was also attacked, though he managed to get away."

Sasuke could feel the confusion radiating from his teammates as they struggled to make sense of this new information.

"Kakashi has yet to be targeted, but that may be in part to him never actually carrying the sword he has in his possession," Sakura continued, ignoring the smile still plastered on Sai's face. Sasuke couldn't help the feeling of discontent he had due to her clinical, no-nonsense style of speaking to him. "There is one more sword out there unaccounted for, and for all we know it could be with the same people who took Chojuro's."

"What are you getting at there, Pinky?" Suigetsu grit his teeth as he spoke. He may not be on the same level as Sasuke, but it was plain to see what Sakura was implying. Jugo answered before she could.

"Someone else is out there collecting the swords," the large man addressed Sakura, who simply nodded at him and looked back to Sasuke.

"We think they are trying to lure you in, Sasuke. As I said, Team Taka's quest to find all the swords has become common knowledge."

"But who the hell would be doing that?" Suigetsu asked angrily, upset at the thought of someone else after his swords for whatever reason. "Orochimaru said himself that he was more interested in seeing what Sasuke does than taking over his body."

"We aren't sure yet," Sakura said, something in her eyes telling Sasuke that she was lying. "Though we are sure that it isn't Orochimaru."

"How?" Sasuke pushed, curious as to why Sakura might lie to him about this.

Pale green eyes hardened as they glanced up at him, and for the first time since he had known her, Sasuke realized that she was going to ignore something he said.

"Naruto, with the approval of both the Hokage and the Council, has requested that Team Taka accompanies us back to Konoha until further notice," she recited without emotion.

"I've been banished, Sakura." Sasuke could feel the anger once more. Anger that she wasn't telling him the truth. Anger that she had ignored his question. Anger that she wouldn't look at him without that steel glaze over her eyes that he had never seen before.

"Banishment has been lifted until further notice."

"Well isn't that convenient," Suigetsu drawled, baring his sharp teeth at the smaller pink-haired girl beside him. "Forgetting his sentence for reasons that you can't bother to explain." He stepped closer to her until his chest pressed against her nose, grip tightening on the sword still in his hands. "Even if you do that, it doesn't mean he will willingly go back with you, and I have no intentions of going myself."

Before Sai could extend his tanto, Suigetsu found the frigid metal edge of kusanagi against his jugular.

"Step back, Suigetsu." Sasuke's voice was hard and cold and Suigetsu instantly heeded his demand.

"Sasuke," her voice cracked ever so slightly and Sasuke tore his eyes away from his teammate to see her eyes glistening as she spoke. "Naruto is worried about you. Chojuro was killed. Killer B only got away because of the eight tails. Even if we are wrong and the people who attacked them aren't collecting the swords in an effort to draw you to them, they will eventually come for the two you hold."

"And _Naruto_ thinks I can't handle them?" his voice remained as cold as when he ordered Suigetsu to back away from her, but for different reasons.

"He wants to talk to you, Sasuke," Sakura looked at the ground, her face unreadable. As he watched her, Sasuke was vaguely aware of a large bird landing in the branches of the cherry tree, settling into the darkness as silently as a shadow.

"About what?" Sasuke asked, lowering his sword once more while shooting a glance at Jugo, a silent order to watch Suigetsu for any sudden movements.

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but a shout from Lee stopped her.

"Sakura!" the energetic green blur was beside her in less than a second, a small scroll in his opened palm. "A letter from Naruto."

Lee showed no sign of surprise at the presence of Sasuke and his team, he simply waited for Sakura's response. The only way this idiot wouldn't be making a fuss was if he hadn't actually been sleeping. Too late, Sasuke remembered Lee's weakness, the boy's inability to externally use Chakra. Switching on his sharingan, Sasuke noticed that his chakra flow looked the same as it had when he thought Lee was asleep.

Scowling, Sasuke blinked away the red and turned back to Sakura, watching as she opened the message. The paper was slightly ripped at the edges and smudged, seemingly written in a hurry by a very messy hand. It took Sakura only a moment to look over it before she turned to her two teammates, her wide eyes alarmed.

"Head back to Konoha," her voice was panicked and she looked upset. "Now."

Without questions, Sai and Lee were gone, leaving their bedrolls behind as they set off north, away from Sakura and Team Taka.

"What is it, Sakura?" Sasuke cringed at the sound of his voice, laced slightly with concern.

"We need to move as well," she performed a short series of hand seals and the letter crumbled to dust. She turned towards the tree to grab her pack but Sasuke grabbed her around the elbow, tugging her back to face him.

"Sakura," he forced her to look into his eyes, his face inches from hers.

"Konoha," she spat out, finally regaining herself and calling upon her chakra enhanced strength to break Sasuke's grasp on her arm. She quickly gathered her medical kit and pack and turned towards the group at the edge of the clearing. "It has been attacked. We have been ordered to a safe house in the east."

"And why should we go with you?" Suigetsu demanded, immediately after which he shot a timid glance towards Sasuke. He did not want that sword against his neck again.

Sakura pushed back the edge of her cloak, revealing a sword that was identical to the one Suigetsu had taken from her.

"If you want the other half of Kiba," she spat at the mouthy ninja from Mist, "you will come with me. It seems that Sasuke isn't the only one they are looking for."

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please review on your way out.<p> 


	4. Mud Clones

Sasuke never let his eyes stray from Sakura's back, even as they catapulted through the branches twenty feet above the forest floor. His eyes began to burn from the harsh wind, aching from exhaustion. The group traveled mostly in silence, a tense air surrounding the three younger travelers.

Jugo, on the other hand, was finding this change of events rather interesting. Sasuke could tell by the way the large man's wide eyes were alternating between himself and Sakura, drawn by any small movement that either of them made. They didn't make many, both extremely conscious of their surroundings.

"Listen, Pinky," Suigetsu drawled from behind them all, noticeably out of breath. "We spent all yesterday running, and now you're havin' us run through the night, too? We need a rest, right Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, the annoying nickname not something he wanted to hear again. Esecially not around Sakura. "Speak for yourself."

Sakura halted on the next branch, eyes tilted upwards where the sky showing through the leaves was beginning to lighten with the rise of the sun.

"Kun..." she repeated quietly, Sasuke hearing the emotion in her voice from where he had stopped some five feet behind her. It was regret, thick and heavy as it coated the suffix.

"Oh, it's not like that, dear," Suigetsu smirked, landing next to her and resting his elbow on her shoulder, leaning in to speak his words against her ear. "I can't be held responsible for the way our lovely little Sasuke-kun here feels about me, but I just don't swing that way."

Sasuke could feel his anger rising, worsened when Sakura actually laughed at what the irritating shark-nin was saying to her. He clenched his jaw and prepared to interrupt, but Suigetsu had continued speaking.

"Now that Karin is gone," Suigetsu said, baring his pointed teeth in a wide smile now that he had managed to make Sakura laugh. "I just wanted to make sure Sasuke-kun wasn't lonely. Y'know, I don't think he is used to not having someone around to fawn over him all the time."

Sasuke noticed the pink-haired girl's smile falter at Suigetsu's words, though the shark-nin didn't seem to catch that. A shifting to his right, where Jugo had paused, drew his attention. The taller man was pensive as usual, observing the interaction. It wouldn't take long for Jugo to understand what had transpired between the two ex-teammate's if he hadn't already.

"We're at the border to Fire," Sasuke announced. The trees had been thinning out for the past hour or so. During his travels, Sasuke had learned that the southern peninsula of Fire, the one that transitioned into the Land of Tea, was barren and empty. The closer they came to the country, the less they would come across in terms of shelter and food.

"I thought we were heading away from Konoha." Jugo said quietly, his eyes fixed on the girl leading them.

"Yeah," Suigetsu shifted his weight, leaning away from Sakura. His hand replaced his elbow upon her shoulder, turning his casual gesture into an intimidating one. "Isn't that what your little note told ya to do?"

A true shinobi never reveals information to the enemy, and the enemy consists of everyone who isn't an ally. Despite their pasts and everything that has happened, Sasuke knew that Sakura was indeed a true kunoichi. He also understood that, no matter how she felt about him and despite the fact that she had come to warn them, they were not allies. So her response was all the proof he needed that she was hiding something important from him.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, staring up at Suigetsu with a hardened gaze. He towered over the petite candy-haired girl, his razor sharp teeth bared and purple eyes narrowed in hostility. But she didn't balk at his threatening posture. She hardly even blinked. "I was ordered to take you to a place where you would be safe from attack, and to get there we have to pass through the southern part of Fire."

She was lying, or at the very least hiding something important. Sasuke could feel the annoyance surge at this, threatening to overflow at her audacity to think she could keep something from him. The fact that she was even trying. That she could do it without a second thought. He wanted to crush her. But the sound of Jugo's voice broke into his thoughts and snapped him out of his anger-filled imagination.

"You're lying." It was a soft and simple fact, but somehow Jugo had caught onto her as well. Frowning, Suigetsu's grip on her shoulder tightened when he heard his teammate's words. "Well?" He asked, his face inches away from her own. "What did it say?"

Sakura didn't flinch, nor did she move away from the man violating her personal space. She wiped her face of any telling emotion, something she must have practiced since their days together as genin. Sasuke couldn't remember a time when she had been so in control of her feelings. It would have been quite useful when they were a team.

"Konoha's affairs are none of your concern," she recited, her eyes flashing to Sasuke even though Suigetsu was the one who was standing almost nose to nose with her. "It doesn't matter what the scroll said, the fact remains that we have to go somewhere safe."

Suigetsu was about to retort when he suddenly found himself alone on the branch. Sakura had dropped to the forest floor. Always quick to act, Sasuke was already landing on the dirt before her.

"You said they were looking for someone else." Sasuke was two steps away from her, watching her vibrant green eyes dart to their companions as they left the trees as well. They settled again on his face, a spot on his forehead. She was avoiding making eye contact with him.

"It doesn't matter," she insisted, and Sasuke could hear the impatience in her voice. It wasn't that she didn't know or refused to tell them because of Konoha. She just didn't want to.

"Sakura," he laced her name with a warning, one he was almost certain she would ignore. She had grown into an even more annoying woman than she had been as a girl.

Riled at having been so easily brushed aside, Suigetsu landed behind Sakura, grabbing her arm and whipping her around to face him. He looked as though he were contemplating the maiming he hadn't bothered to mention in the past two years, somehow unable to deal with Sakura's flippant attitude even though he had once openly instigated the same responses from a certain red head.

Before anyone could say more, Jugo stepped forward and fixed his emotionless stare on Sasuke. It was the look he got when something was wrong, all the curiosity about their new companion having been wiped from his expression.

"Sasuke-sama," Jugo said in a rush. "Someone is coming. Twenty minutes away from us."

Sakura let out a stifled cry of frustration. "I told you guys," she spat, grabbing Suigetsu by the front of his shirt and pushing him out to arms length. She focused her attention on Sasuke as she held the squirming shark-nin in place with her superior strength. "We have to move. Whoever they are, they've been tracking you guys for a while now. They know almost everything about you."

"Then they should know how strong Sasuke is, eh Pinky?" Suigetsu ground his pointy teeth together, angry violet eyes wide with indignation. "Who are these people that you think they could have any chance against him?"

Sasuke had been wondering the same thing. After the war, he was certain that there wasn't anyone in the world other than perhaps Naruto who could equal him. He had expected Sakura of all people to have a similar faith in his abilities, but he was beginning to realize just how much her opinion of him has changed.

"We don't know yet what they are capable of," Sakura spat back at the man in her grip, tightening her hold on the fabric in her hands as though strangling the cloth would prevent her from punching the loudmouth wearing it. "It is best to avoid confrontation for now until we are more knowledgeable of our enemies."

"How are you so certain they are enemies?" Jugo asked calmly, his ears twitching imperceptibly as Sasuke was certain he was still listening to the birds. He wasn't quite sure how the orange-headed giant was capable of understanding them, but it was at times like this that he was glad he could.

"They attacked Killer B and killed Chojuro," Sakura seethed, turning her attention to the much larger man. "Neither of which are pushovers, might I add, and both of whom are my friends." The corner of her mouth quivered ever so slightly as she spoke. "Or, was..."

Sasuke saw the look on Suigetsu's face change from outrage to uncomfortable, the hand he had been using to try and pry loose the grip on his shirt going lax and almost comforting upon her wrist. A small surge of heat sprang forth in his chest as he fought the urge to smack away the shark-nin's hold.

"Chojuro was a good man," Suigetsu said softly, allowing his hand to fall to his side. "He was a legend. Not really the kinda guy I would hang around with, but I respected him anyways."

Sakura looked at all three of them in turn, the look on her face willing them to trust her. Willing them to follow her away from their pursuers.

"But we don't run from fights," Suigetsu continued. He seemed as though he were about to continue with his heartfelt speech, but a moment later he was gone from Sakura's grip, having dissolved into a puddle at her feet. The kunai that would have pierced him planted itself in the tree five yards away.

"Tch," Sasuke huffed in annoyance, having been far too preoccupied with uncovering Sakura's motive that he hadn't realized someone had been sneaking up on them. But no, he realized. He still couldn't feel anyone's presence. As he activated his sharingan, he realized that he couldn't sense any chakra either.

"Sasuke-sama!" Jugo yelled behind him. Sasuke turned just in time to see a brown figure leap out from the trees and anchor itself to the older man's back. An impossible number of them entered the clearing they had been standing in, surrounding the three ninja before they could even react. Sasuke quickly drew his kusanagi, his sharingan raking across the horde of identical beings.

They were fast, whatever they were. Now that he could see them in detail, it was clear that they weren't human. Their brown skin was slick and putrid looking, drops of its flesh sliding down their bodies at a time. None of them had a face, or clothes for that matter, though there were no appendages that needed to be hidden.

"Mud clones!" Sakura cried, bisecting the brown bag shaped roughly into a human that had been reaching for her. It fell to the ground with a wet plop before it began to mold itself back into shape. She rushed to Jugo, using her Kunai to slice through the arms of the one on his back. She nicked the skin on his shoulder by accident, barely deep enough to break the skin as only a drop or two of blood oozed out and soaked into the torn cloth of his shirt.

Sasuke snarled, annoyed that he had been surprised by mud of all things. He pushed his sword back into its sheath, shooting a glare at the others, Suigetsu having reformed from his last moment evasion.

"Off the ground," he ordered roughly, and as he began the hand seals none of them thought to argue. Trusting that they could manage to get into the trees in a decent amount of time, Sasuke let loose his devastating fire breath.

The surrounding area was immediately engulfed in flames, setting fire to low hanging branches and causing Sasuke to break out in a light sheen of sweat. He could hardly see through his continuing onslaught, but he heard the crackle and popping all around him as the mud clones were cooked and dried. After nearly a full minute, Sasuke ended his jutsu and looked around at the pile of useless hardened clay littering the forest floor.

"Man, Sasuke-kun," the mist-nin fell to the ground, panting heavily and looking as though he had been caught in some form between his liquid and physical bodies. "I'm all outta water and you just had to go and try to grill us alive, huh? I swear, I'm drying up, here!"

Wordlessly, Sakura appeared beside him, her pink locks sticking to her brow from the intensity of the heat, and held out her canteen to the whining shark. It was pink with tiny flower petals cascading around the metal shell. Suigetsu eyed it in distrust, more likely from the color than the fact that it was being handed to him by an untrusted kunoichi. He snatched it from her anyways, draining every last drop before he shoved the offensively girly flask back into her hands.

"We need to go," Sasuke barked, eyes landing on Jugo who was standing silently off to the side. Sasuke was quietly asking for an update, something he knew Jugo would catch on to. He had always been far more perceptive than Suigetsu or Karin. In Taka, Jugo was very much like a subdued and slightly unhinged Kakashi.

"The birds have all gone quiet," Jugo replied, his face set in deep concentration, trying his hardest to make out any chirping within the burnt forest. "Your fire scattered them."

"Whatever," Sasuke snapped, annoyed that he had messed something else up. First he hadn't noticed the mud clones, now he had scared away their only source of information. Whatever or whoever was coming, he couldn't sense them for some reason, and that just angered him even more. "Come."

His order was absolute in the ears of Jugo and Suigetsu, but Sakura wasn't about to let him take the lead . He saw it when he went to pass her, the set of her jaw as she stood defiantly in place.

"You will all follow me," Sakura stated, her eyes once again finding their place upon his forehead. Did she think he would use his sharingan on her? Was that really fear he saw in her eyes?

"We don't have time for this, Sakura."

"Then just do as I say for once!" She placed herself directly in his path, fists clenched as she tilted her head back to continue her efforts of glaring a hole clean through his skull.

"Guys," Suigetsu sing-songed to them, already inching towards the direction they had been traveling earlier. "They can't be too far from us, now."

"We have about ten minutes," Jugo added.

Sasuke refused to allow Sakura any amount of say on where he was headed. She had lied to him more than once now about what was going on, and he wasn't going to follow her anywhere until he got some answers. She seemed to sense his resolution, or perhaps she just remembered how stubborn he had been as a child.

"Fine," she cocked him a playful grin, stepping back until she was standing with Suigetsu, her eyes never leaving Sasuke's pale forehead. "I'll just have to make you do as I say."

Sasuke, with all his speed and reflexes, had not been prepared for what Sakura did next. He watched in confusion at fist as the girl before him lifter her hand to her mouth, biting into the fleshy pad of her thumb and withdrawing a small scroll with the other, unfurling it in one deft motion.

"Sorry Jugo, but my kunai is poisoned," Sakura spoke quickly, kneeling to the ground as she pushed her thumb into the center of the blank paper, from which a spiderweb of symbols cracked the material in every direction. "You have two days to come find us." Darting her other hand out, Sakura wrapped her tiny fingers around Suigetsu's ankle. Since the action was not an immediate threat, the shark-nin's body remained in tact and he was pulled through the jutsu she had cast.

"Damnit!" Sasuke cursed loudly. He was vaguely aware of Jugo jumping at his uncharacteristic outburst. "Where did she go?"

Before now, the member of Taka had only ever seen him express intense emotions when e was on the verge of losing it. Now Sakura had ruined his cool facade. Jugo walked slowly forward, after he was sure Sasuke wasn't about to start swinging with the intention of leveling everything in the immediate area.

In the dirt where she had placed the scroll was a small scrap of paper. Bending down to grab it, Jugo read the neatly printed words in silence, afraid of making noise lest he push the Uchiha over the edge.

"What does it say?" Sasuke said it with resignation, his tone brimming with exhaustion. He could tell this caught Jugo off guard. A sudden sense of guilt flooded the avenger's system, knowing that he had been rather harsh and cruel during his time in Taka. Instead of waiting for Jugo to answer, Sasuke held out his hand.

Jugo placed the message gingerly in Sasuke's outstretched palm, a look of confusion and concern still on the larger man's face. It was slightly weighted, two tiny black pills taped to the corner. Ignoring his teammate for now, Sasuke read the single sentence on the paper.

_"Sasuke-kun, Naruto's home was destroyed in the war. Go help him rebuild it."_

Sasuke knew for a fact that Konoha was long since rebuilt and that she didn't actually want him to go to Konoha. She had given him a riddle. He decided at that point he was going to store up any negative emotion and save it for the moment he saw her next in retribution for what she just did.

He tore the pills away from the paper and set the note on fire, watching it crumble in his flame-resistant fingers. Tossing one to Jugo, who looked rather pale now that he took the time to notice, Sasuke popped the second into his own mouth.

"Let's go," Sasuke ordered, setting off north, they way Sakura had been leading them.

"Where to?" Jugo asked, his hand resting on the small cut on his shoulder before he swallowed the soldier pill Sakura had left for them.

Sasuke wasn't sure yet. He would have to work the riddle out as they went.

* * *

><p>Hey there! New chapter, look at that. Please review, it means a lot to me when you do.<p>

Also, is the clue too obvious? Lemme know what you guys think?


	5. Uzushiogakure

"What kind of poison do you think it is?"

Sasuke fixed the man next to him with the most serious stare he could possibly muster, which just happened to be quite serious. "A love poison."

At his alarmed expression, it took all that Sasuke had to keep himself from smirking and giving himself away. It seemed as though the years of being nothing but a standoffish jerk had payed off in the long run. Of course, Sasuke didn't believe for an instant that Sakura had poisoned the gullible giant. Something that underhanded just wasn't a tactic Sakura was capable of.

"Do such things exist?"

"Hn," Sasuke nodded an affirmation to his fib, keeping his eyes glued on the horizon. "Powerful potions. Make you fall in love with the one who poisoned you," he glanced at Jugo now, dark eyes dancing in the morning sun. Jugo would have noticed had he not been so preoccupied with his imaginary predicament. "You will belong to her completely."

Sasuke noticed as Jugo seemed to relax the tiniest amount, as though his burden had been lifted somewhat. "Well, that wouldn't be so bad."

Sasuke did his best to hide the shock his companion's comment caused, though he knew it still showed. Nearly five years of traveling with someone had the downfall of them learning all of your tells, no matter how miniscule they might be.

However, Sasuke had not been expecting the faint surge of annoyance towards his teammate.

They had been traveling for a day now, still heading north but unsure of where exactly they were going. Deciding to take a break and eat some real food, the two of them had stopped in a moderately sized village on the coast of the fire country.

Jugo gave a silent laugh, tipping his mug back to finish off the rest of his tea. Next to the large man, Sasuke's modest height of 5'9" made him look like a child. Thankfully, his unfriendly demeanor kept the waitress from hovering too close to their table, though he could still feel her eyes on him, watching his every move the way a tiger studied its prey.

"Konoha is Naruto's home, right?" Jugo asked, pushing his mug to the edge of the table to alert the waitress that he would like a refill.

"All his life," Sasuke responded. He had been staring intently into the liquid inside his own cup, wondering what Sakura had meant.

Jugo thanked the waitress kindly, who had stopped by rather quickly to replenish his drink and sulked off back into the corner to resume her post when Sasuke hadn't even noticed her presence.

"And she called you kun," Jugo went on, repeating the same train of conversation they had been circling since they set out after the pink-haired nuisance.

Sasuke grunted in reply, unwilling to comment. She hadn't spoken the affectionate suffix out loud to him once since they had run into each other, but she had written it.

"Maybe it is part of the clue?"

Sasuke had considered this, of course. He had thought about when they were genin and he couldn't get her to shake the annoying way she called his name, but it still didn't make sense. There was no linking that time to another place.

A small commotion caught his attention and Sasuke turned to see the waitress being reprimanded by an older man who looked to be the manager. She bowed meekly to him before she scurried off to another table where a middle-aged woman sat with her three children to take their order.

"Good thing Karin isn't here," Jugo slurped the rest of his miso soup, placing the bowl gingerly back onto the table. "She would have been real mean to the poor girl."

Karin. She had also used that infuriating suffix on him.

Karin Uzumaki.

Sasuke stood, leaving behind the food that he had hardly touched and threw more money than he owed onto the table, not caring to count out the correct amount. "Come, Jugo," he demanded, ignoring the lingering eyes of the waitress as he walked out the door.

"Damn, Pinky," Suigetsu whistled at the sight, large cement pieces from crumbled buildings that had been smoothed over time by the seasons mingling with the growing plants that attempted to reclaim the area. "This place is a dump."

They had already been there for a day now, though after a brief argument concerning Suigetsu's indignant attitude towards playing the damsel in distress and being kidnapped Sakura had given him a sedative which caused the boy to sleep for far longer than normal. He did seem refreshed and much less cranky than before, Sakura rationalized.

"We're working on it," Sakura stepped over a warped and rusted metal beam with a small tree growing beside it.

"Who is we?" Suigetsu followed, still not quite sure exactly where he was. He had never seen a place quite like this. The sun shone brilliantly above through pure white clouds, though every now and then the rain would sweep in and fall from seemingly nowhere. He found that he liked it here even more than he liked the dark and thunderous storms of Mist. "Konoha?"

A small smile spread across her face that Suigetsu found rather frightening. "Not exactly," she said slowly.

"Well," Suigetsu paused to revel in the latest short-lived shower before continuing to follow the aggravating kunoichi. "That wasn't an annoyingly unhelpful answer. Where exactly are we, anyways?"

All around them, all that Suigetsu saw was the occasional ruined remains of buildings and the nature that was slowly creeping its way around the metal and cement. Every now and then he glanced a piece of concrete that was blackened and crumbled more than the rest.

"This place must have been destroyed intentionally," Suigetsu prodded when Sakura didn't answer, unable to take the silence any longer. He had thought Sasuke's old teammates were more talkative than he was. "In the war? No, longer ago than that."

"It was destroyed during a war about thirty years ago," Sakura finally said, stopping at the top of a hill. She surveyed her surroundings, and when Suigetsu came to a stop beside her he did the same.

While before the corpses of buildings had been sporadic and small, at the bottom of the hill and across the river he saw what looked to be an entire city of crumbled buildings. Along the river bank he glimpsed the ruined remains of no less than eight bridges. This place had once been a village the size of Mist or Konoha.

"This is Uzushiogakure," Sakura spoke quietly, an emotion Suigetsu couldn't quite place filtering into her voice. "They were once our ally before they were all killed."

In the distance, Suigetsu could see a temporary camp set up, next to it small supply sheds erected among the ruins.

"Who is we?" Suigetsu asked again, feeling slightly unnerved by the strange girl and the dead city.

Sakura turned a bright smile on the shark and he couldn't help the easy feeling that came over him. This girl was charming and kind, he knew that. He also knew that Naruto was sunshine incarnate. How had they managed to get saddled down by a monster like Sasuke?

"Well," she started, her bright green eyes shining in the light. "I promised I wouldn't tell." She finished with a laugh, running down the hill and leaping lithely across the river and into the city proper.

Giving a frustrated growl, Suigetsu grinned nonetheless at her playful attitude. Before he set off after her, Suigetsu turned to look behind him. Atop the hill, he could now see the oceans far behind them, were the eddies swirled relentlessly beneath the beautiful blue sky.

"Sasuke-sama," Jugo said as he followed the silent boy to the outskirts of the village. Sasuke's mood had shifted so quickly that the larger man was still rather stunned and unable to catch up to whatever realization must have been made. All he knew was that it wasn't a negative emotion at all. Sasuke had been sullen and withdrawn for most of the time they had known each other. Since the arrival and quick disappearance of his childhood team mate, Sasuke had become frustrated and, for the first time Jugo could recall, downright morose.

Now, however, Sasuke's silence could not be mistaken in any way as something negative. His eyes, still dark and untainted by the bloody legacy of his heritage, shone like jewels in the boy's own expression of excitement. It became clear that Sakura's little riddle had affected him quite powerfully, in fact it seemed to have stimulated his intelligence. Years of revenge addled missions and anger and hate had dulled what Jugo could now see was a very competitive nature.

"That silly girl," Sasuke muttered almost beneath his breath, stopping just at the edge of the village to calculate which route would lead most effectively towards their destination. "She meant to have me recall the past with that annoying suffix, but not my past."

Jugo waited patiently for the smaller man to continue and followed as he made the choice to follow a road that would take them east, the peculiar twinkle in his eyes growing more as he spoke.

"You mentioning Karin really helped," Sasuke spoke almost without realizing that he was inadvertently paying the other male a compliment. He never did that. "Karin is of the Uzumaki clan, as is Naruto. Or at least his mother. And the Uzumaki's came from a now defunct village on an island to the east of Fire."

Jugo stared, caught between astonishment and confusion. "The Leaf's safe house is in a destroyed village across the sea?"

"Apparently," was all Sasuke said now, setting a brisk pace leading them east along the road. Eventually the road brought them to the vast sea and turned a sharp north, leading them well into Fire country. It wasn't long before they began to see the whirlpools far off on the horizon, seemingly small from where they stood now on the sand but both knew how large and treacherous they truly were.

They stopped then, Jugo looking to Sasuke for the next move and noticing that the light in his eyes had not yet dulled, he had not yet reverted to his usual stoic self though he was not all that talkative, either. Jugo wondered briefly if this was how he had been as a child, arrogant and prideful but with an underlying excitement. If he had been like this with his genin team, even after the death of ever single one of his family members. Was this a part of him that only Naruto and Sakura could call forth?

"Let's go, Jugo," Sasuke said before setting foot onto the water, the look on his face souring slightly. Sasuke was mistaken if he believed his dislike for water walking was a secret from Jugo, for the large man noticed everything. Still, he also knew better than to say anything of it.

They crossed the water, and when they came to them they expertly navigated the massive swirling tides even though neither had ever seen anything like them before. It was common knowledge that the eddies never stopped and that they shifted constantly, making the trek to the island more danger than it was worth, considering that nothing existed there anymore. No wonder Konoha had chosen it for their hide out.

Sasuke was almost literally vibrating with energy now, his emotions buzzing just below the surface in a way that not many people could have ever picked up on. Jugo imagined that only a handful of people could look at the dark haired boy and know that he wasn't his usual self. He surged forward as they neared the shore, the slightest hint of victory on his lips.

The moment his foot touched the shore, however, it all fell apart. Sasuke froze, drawing his sword before Jugo even managed to catch up to him. When he did, he realized the problem.

Upon setting foot on the island, Jugo's vision turned black. His senses were dulled and the world around him melted away. Both boys found themselves unable to move. They had walked right into someone's jutsu and hadn't seen it coming.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," a woman spoke to their right.

"No."

Sakura pouted, batting her bright green eyes up at the white-haired missing nin in a playful manner.

"No," Suigetsu said again, clutching the blade to his chest. He was quite set on keeping hold of the piece of Kiba he had, though he still preferred to have both swords in his possession.

"It's a trust thing," Sakura mock whined, laughing lightly at the dour look she received in return.

"Why should I trust you, Pinky?" He clutched the sword tighter, stepping forward to tower over the shorter kunoichi. "You just kidnapped and drugged me."

They stood now in a large clearing that must have once served as the town square. The marble on the ground beneath them was cracked and dirty, but it had obviously been cleared of the rubble he now saw piled along one side. Some of the surrounding buildings had been rebuilt already, serving as meeting rooms and lodging Suigetsu supposed.

Sakura smiled up at him, her eyes flashing mischievously as they pinned his violet ones in a manner he found instantly disconcerting. "You should trust me simply because I haven't beat you to a bloody pulp by now and simply taken it." Her eyes released his then and peered around him, her smile turning so quickly to a smirk that Suigetsu didn't have time to feel worried. "Or let her do it."

He heard the sharp sound of rushing wind behind him and dodged quickly to the left, watching as the kunai was caught easily by the pink-haired demon before him.

"What the hell," He whirled around, ready to confront his attacker. All the nasty things he had intended to say died in his throat as he took in the uneven mess of red hair and eyes framed by familiar black glasses.

Karin Uzumaki stood at the edge of the square, hands on her hips as she scrutinized her old team mate. "You haven't changed at all, Sui," she made a show of lowering her glasses to the edge of her nose, pulling her mouth to one side as she criticized the man. "Still have that atrocious sense of style."

Suigetsu sputtered indignantly, unsure what he felt more strongly in that moment. Surprise? Anger? Confusion at the sight of this annoying girl who had fled with Orochimaru as soon as the war was over?

"What the hell is she doing here?" Suigetsu rounded once more on Sakura, pointing behind him accusingly. "What, is that freak Orochimaru here as well?" At the thought of the Sannin, Suigetsu settled on anger. He was definitely feeling anger and just a little bit of panic now. "Are you leading Sasuke into a trap?"

"Don't be ridiculous, idiot," Karin strolled over to join them, smacking Suigetsu upside the head as she stopped next to him. Despite what the red head had said, there were some changes that had occurred in their time apart, namely Suigetsu's impressive height increase that left the top of her head barely reaching the tip of his nose. "Orochimaru has no interest in Sasuke-kun anymore, as he made clear two years ago.

"Then what are you doing here?" He narrowed his eyes as he leaned over her, violet clashing with red in what Sakura thought vaguely was a rather fetching combination.

"I'm here to help rebuild my family's village," she stated, placing her hand on the shark-nin's chest and pushing him away before she turned to Sakura. "And to inform you that Sasuke-kun and Jugo have arrived. Yamanaka and Nara are fetching them."

"I told you he would get it!" Sakura exclaimed in triumph.

As Karin acceded to the Leaf Kunoichi her victory, Suigetsu couldn't help but feel slightly disoriented by the sight before him. He puzzled over the notion of how these two girls, one he knew for a glaring fact had been in love with Sasuke and the other he had a fairly good notion about her feelings for the Uchiha brat, acting as though they were _friends._ He was aware by now that they both had ferocious tempers and yielded to no one. What was going on?

"What's with that stupid look on your face?" Karin asked, giving Suigetsu the most sour look he had seen in a while. He was already starting to miss her absence.

"Since when were you two friends?" He asked bluntly, glancing from Karin to Sakura and back again. "Shouldn't you be fighting over your precious Sasuke-kun or something?"

Something in Karin's face darkened. She muttered something about going to check on supplies before storming off angrily. Suigetsu thought nothing of it until what felt like a horse barreled into his shoulder and knocked him off his feet.

"Don't be an ass, Shark-boy," Sakura gave him a half-glare from where she stood next to him, the hand she had used to punch him now holding the second Kiba sword.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the delay! I kind of ran into a bit of a rough spot, but I'm working on it! Please read and enjoy and review :D<p> 


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